Syria to ship out ‘most dangerous’ chemical weapons by March

The Field Deployable Hydrolysis System used to destroy and neutralize chemical weapons is watched by U.S. Navy Commander Bill Speaks as it sits aboard the MV Cape Ray (Reuters / Larry Downing) / Reuters

As a third batch of Syria’s chemical weapons leaves for Italy, Assad’s envoy to Russia says the most dangerous chemicals will leave the country by the end of February. The US hopes to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile in a single operation.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
confirmed Monday that another lot of Syria’s dangerous chemical
materials has been transferred to a Norwegian cargo vessel, which
is now on its way to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria,
one of Europe's largest shipping ports.

The extrication of chemical weapons and dangerous materials from
war-torn Syria was supposed to be completed by February 5, and is
falling behind schedule.

Syrian authorities blame the unstable situation in the country,
riven by civil war, as the evacuation of weapons of mass
destruction is being carried out under fire from Islamists rebels in the country.

“Most of the chemical weapons stockpiles, including the most
toxic materials, will be evacuated from Syria by March 1,”
Syria’s ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, told the Interfax news
agency. “I believe we will meet the deadline," he said.

Impatience over the missed deadlines has been simmering in
Washington, which is accusing Damascus of hindering the chemical disarmament.

On Monday, the Pentagon announced that US ship MV Cape Ray, which
left Portsmouth on January 27 and is currently headed for the
Mediterranean on a mission to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons,
will make an indefinite stopover at a naval military base in
Rota, Spain.

Since the chemical weapons and precursors were not handed over in
time, the 135 US personnel aboard MV Cape Ray will have to wait
until all Syria’s chemical WMD are brought to Italy. Otherwise
the ship would have to shuttle between port Gioia Tauro and the
sea area designated for weapons destruction for every new batch
of chemical weapons.

“We expect [the MV Cape Ray] to remain in Rota until such
time as she’s prepared to transload all of the Syrian chemical
weapons [and chemical materials] that she is slated to
destroy,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told
reporters.

The Cape Ray is expected to reach Rota later this week, Warren
said.

According to interstate agreements, Syrian authorities are
responsible for collecting all of their chemical weapons and
dangerous materials from 12 sites and bringing them to the port
of Latakia, using a total of 75 armored combat vehicles provided by the Russian
government. The materials are packed in US-provided container
drums, and all transportations are monitored with GPS locators
and cameras.

Russia is ensuring the security of the port of Latakia and
supervising loading operations. Then cargo ships provided by
Denmark and Norway are escorted by Chinese, Danish, Norwegian and
Russian warships to Italy’s Gioia Tauro port for consolidation of
the materials.

The last stage of the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons
will take place aboard the US Maritime Administration cargo ship
MV Cape Ray, where the weapons will be neutralized offshore in
the central Mediterranean with the use of a Field Deployable
Hydrolysis System.

Some chemical materials suitable for making WMD, including 93
percent of Isopropanol, the key component of the toxic gas sarin,
have already been destroyed within Syria, OPCW Director-General
Ahmet Uzumcu reported. The rest will be shipped outside the
country for utilization at commercial facilities.

Syria has already missed several deadlines in the chemical
weapons elimination schedule, starting to remove the dangerous
chemicals on January 7, a week later than promised, and missing
the February 5 deadline for collecting all of the material.

"We have to remember that Syria is a country at war. The
security situation can shift from day to day," said Sigrid
Kaag, special coordinator of the Joint OPCW Mission at the UN.

The government of President Bashar Assad has insisted that Syria
will not miss the final deadline and will have its chemical WMD
arsenals destroyed by June 30.